Phase Shields and Torpedoes

[Sgt_thomson]

Hi there I was just wondering if you could answer a few questions for me about shields and torpedoes for me.

1.) If torpedoes were locked on and fired at cap ship A, if cap ship B moved to take the hit for A would the torpedoes that were meant for A penetrate the shields of B?

2.) Can cap ships in wing commander extend thier shields around another cap ship of equal or smaller size?

3.) If they could extend thier shields around other ships could 2 cap ships pair up and extend thier shield's around the other to try and stop torpedoes from penetrating the shields on the other ship?

4.) When a torpedo is being locked onto a ship, after the torpedo has been launched at the target can the target ship do anything to stop the torpedo from penetrating the targets shields? Like change shield modulation or anything like that?

Just trying to see if there is anyway that you could stop torpedoes from penetrating shields. Any help would be great thanks

 

[Delance]

1.) If torpedoes were locked on and fired at cap ship A, if cap ship B moved to take the hit for A would the torpedoes that were meant for A penetrate the shields of B?

On WC2 it shouldn't, in theory, because torps required a lock to penetrate the phase shields. On, WC3/4 it should, because the torpedoes wouldn't require the lock to penetrate on the phase shields. However, I'm not sure about how the game engine reflects this.

2.) Can cap ships in wing commander extend thier shields around another cap ship of equal or smaller size?

Never heard of that.

3.) If they could extend thier shields around other ships could 2 cap ships pair up and extend thier shield's around the other to try and stop torpedoes from penetrating the shields on the other ship?

Never heard of that either.

4.) When a torpedo is being locked onto a ship, after the torpedo has been launched at the target can the target ship do anything to stop the torpedo from penetrating the targets shields? Like change shield modulation or anything like that?

I don't think so, once they are locked they must be shot down or they will hit the target. I suppose some counter measures could exist, but the torps would have counter-counter-measures, and so on. That's why every weapon was able to hit capships on WC3. The shields didn't get weaker, the weapons got stronger.

Just trying to see if there is anyway that you could stop torpedoes from penetrating shields. Any help would be great thanks

Torpedoes are weapons specifically made to penertate on any shileds, and I don't know any WC tech that prevents this.

 

[Edfilho]

Torpedos can fail, the first generations had a fair share of duds.
But that should not happen in games, those torpedoes are older tech.

 

[Primate]

On WC2 it shouldn't, in theory, because torps required a lock to penetrate the phase shields. On, WC3/4 it should, because the torpedoes wouldn't require the lock to penetrate on the phase shields. However, I'm not sure about how the game engine reflects this.

You did need a lock to fire a torpedo in WC3/4. I think it also mentions in the novels (WCIII and/or WCIV) that the purpose of the lock is to get through the phase shields.

4.) When a torpedo is being locked onto a ship, after the torpedo has been launched at the target can the target ship do anything to stop the torpedo from penetrating the targets shields? Like change shield modulation or anything like that?

Like Delance said, it's never been done so it probably is either impossible or impractical. If it is impossible, the reason could be because all shield generators have the same frequency ( I don't pretend to know the technical implications of this) in which case perhaps the answer to your first question would be that whatever ship the torpedo ends up hitting, it will penetrate the shields.

 

[Edfilho]

I don't see ANY reason to believe that shields are extendable. I would assume that shields can only protect the ship itself.

No Shield Generators in Endor here.

 

[Death]

I don't know about the rest of the stuff, but a ship can provide shielding for another, if the two ships are in physical contact. In the novel False Colors, set around 2671 IIRC, the KIS Karga had its shielding courtesy of the repair ship that was being used by the Landreich salvage operation to claim the kat carrier.

 

[Sgt_thomson]

Well I know in other sci-fi series like Star Trek they could extend thier shields around other ships. I was just wondering how shields work in WC.

 

[Dyret]

In Star Trek they use little machines to turn pure energy into not so pure burgers.

 

[Dundradal]

1.) If torpedoes were locked on and fired at cap ship A, if cap ship B moved to take the hit for A would the torpedoes that were meant for A penetrate the shields of B?

I think this may depend on the period during the war. The advancement of shields/guns and missiles techs would play a large role if the torp would penetrate the shields. The torp would detonate against the shields of the second ship but the damage would be greatly reduced.

2.) Can cap ships in wing commander extend thier shields around another cap ship of equal or smaller size?

As Death already mentioned in False Colors the tender FRLS Sindri extended its shields around the FRLS Mjollnir (ex KIS Karga), although they were not combat rated. They were used to provide protection against asteroids and debris along with retaining gases.

3.) If they could extend thier shields around other ships could 2 cap ships pair up and extend thier shield's around the other to try and stop torpedoes from penetrating the shields on the other ship?

Unlikely because of the amount of time required to pair up two ships in the middle of a torpedo strike. It would also be extremely unwise as it could easily cost two ships instead of just one. Not saying they couldn't it just that nobody ever would.

4.) When a torpedo is being locked onto a ship, after the torpedo has been launched at the target can the target ship do anything to stop the torpedo from penetrating the targets shields? Like change shield modulation or anything like that?

Capships mount anti-torp missile launchers and point defense systems to down torpedoes. The whole thing with the torpedo locking process is that it locks onto the shields modulation so if you change it the torpedo will correct for that. Best thing one can down is simply destroy the torpedo bombers before they have time to launch their payloads.

 

[ChrisReid]

I don't see ANY reason to believe that shields are extendable. I would assume that shields can only protect the ship itself.


No Shield Generators in Endor here.

People have pointed out the very limited shared protection in False Colors, but Wing Commander 3 also features a ground-based shield generator. The jump point from Freya deep into Kilrathi space was protected from Freya II.

 

[Lt.Death100]

People have pointed out the very limited shared protection in False Colors, but Wing Commander 3 also features a ground-based shield generator. The jump point from Freya deep into Kilrathi space was protected from Freya II.

Any reason to believe that this was new technology or perhaps inefficent?

 

[Dundradal]

Any reason to believe that this was new technology or perhaps inefficent?

Probably not new...in Action Stations they talk about shielding of the McAuliffe base facilities and Alexandria and it is a pretty massive shielding system.

The only thing wrong with the Freya shield system was how poorly defended it was and how pathetic it's own shielding and armor systems were.

 

[ChrisReid]

Any reason to believe that this was new technology or perhaps inefficent?

Well, projecting a shield way out into space is obviously going to be more inefficient than generating a field locally. The limiting factor in these cases is that it's not practical to get such a big piece of equipment out into space in the first place when the projection or power transfer will work.

 

[Ijuin]

Plus there's the matter that shield strength probably drops off with the square of the distance away from the emitters, and most parts of a ship that you are throwing your own ship's shields around are going to be like two or more times as far away from your emitters as any part of your own ship. Thus, shields thrown around a ship by another ship are not going to help much against anti-capship weapons, but would probably provide protection against lighter stuff (like debris, radiation, or antifighter weapons).

 

[Venom]

Hi everybody!
I think that a shield generator CAN change its frequency. They are electromagnetical fields created somehow outside the vessel using the shield emitters at a very high frequency, changing the phase or the frequency is theorically (I think i've mispelled it...) possible. Like an electrical engine can get faster or slower. So the torpedoes will lose the lock if somebody inside the ship(LaForge perhaps...), manipulate the shield emitters to change the phase.
But, these are only theories...

 

[AD]

Hi everybody!
I think that a shield generator CAN change its frequency. They are electromagnetical fields created somehow outside the vessel using the shield emitters at a very high frequency, changing the phase or the frequency is theorically (I think i've mispelled it...) possible. Like an electrical engine can get faster or slower. So the torpedoes will lose the lock if somebody inside the ship(LaForge perhaps...), manipulate the shield emitters to change the phase.
But, these are only theories...

Interesting idea, but I don't like your engine analogy. Electricity from the power outlet on your wall has frequency because it is AC (alternating current) while it is also possible to have DC (direct current). In north americac the current is 6O hertz meaning it alternates 60 times a second while most of Europe I believe is 50 hertz. Some clocks are affected by this even. For example there is a Private Hydro power grid near where I live that a corporation uses for Aluminum smelting. Sometimes they sell the excesss power to the regular grid but it runs at a slightly different frequency and makes the clocks all run fast.

So it is possible to change the frequency an electric current. That's not an issue.though I doubt its as simple as simply increasing to ammount of current going to the sheild emmiters as if someone were stepping on the accelerator (ar gas peddal if you will). Changing the phase of your sheilds has to do with various transistors or transformers at the emmiter it self. Increasing the ammount of current would only increase the strength of the sheild, not alter its phase or frequency. And for them not to screw up all the onboard systems confed would need to standardize the current on their ships and use transformers and such to step down the amperage for various lights and computers and stuff.

 

[ChrisReid]

Yeah, and it's generally a good practice not to adopt things from Star Trek when there's little or no affirmative evidence that things in Wing Commander operate that way.

 

[Venom]

Yeah, and it's generally a good practice not to adopt things from Star Trek when there's little or no affirmative evidence that things in Wing Commander operate that way.

Well, I was not adopting anything from Star Trek (I've seen 4-5 tv episodes only...) if I've done this, please excuse me, I was only wondering how a Shield Generator can work.
I think also that not all the instrumentation of a ship is linked togheter, because if you destroy the shield generator on a ship, the exceeding power will collapse the other instruments... If they are DC... Try to put 1,5V lamps in serial or parallel with a 9V battery and then blow one... And you'll understand what I say...

 

[ChrisReid]

Well, I was not adopting anything from Star Trek (I've seen 4-5 tv episodes only...) if I've done this, please excuse me, I was only wondering how a Shield Generator can work.

Well, the thing you described in the post above is sort of a trademark trick in the Star Trek play book.

I think also that not all the instrumentation of a ship is linked togheter, because if you destroy the shield generator on a ship, the exceeding power will collapse the other instruments... If they are DC... Try to put 1,5V lamps in serial or parallel with a 9V battery and then blow one... And you'll understand what I say...

I don't follow you here.. destroying shield generators doesn't necessarily damage other systems in WC.

 

[Dundradal]

I don't follow you here.. destroying shield generators doesn't necessarily damage other systems in WC.

Only in WCP/SO are we even allowed to target such systems and their destruction merely allows you to use torpedoes and guns against components. \

The only other time I can recall of shield emitters being specificly targeted is in FC when the Black Cats target them on the Vorgath and then that only left holes in the coverage. It did not cause damage to other systems.